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Starting the final week of the regular season the Cavaliers are home against the Indiana Pacers, who got off to a nice start at 23-18 but have since gone 11-26. They have lost six of their last eight and are 14-25 on the road. They are 1-2 against the Cavs.
To make matters worse, their best player, Tyrese Haliburton, is out. Haliburton averages 21 points and 10 assists. Center Myles Turner is questionable - he averages 18 points and 7.5 rebounds. If Turner is out the Pacers will be without their two leading scorers, their leading rebounder, their leader in assists, and their top shot blocker.
The Pacers don’t have a backup center; they’ve been starting PF Jalen Smith (6'9", 215) with Turner out. In their last game they started Smith at center, 6’8” Jordan Nwora at PF, and three guards - Nesmith at 6’5”, Nembhard at 6’3”, and Mathurin at 6’5”.
The Pacers have been having defensive problems with the 6’11”, 250 pound Turner out. In the last week they gave up 149 points to Milwaukee, 143 to Atlanta, and 127 to Dallas.
Even with Turner they’re bad defensively. On the season they are second to last in points allowed per game, 25th in points in the paint allowed, and 25th in opponents’ 3-point percentage. And even when they force a miss they’re not out of the woods as they are last in defensive rebounding percentage. Turner is by far their best rebounder so if he is out they are worse than the worst in both shot blocking and rebounding missed shots. Turner has 40% of their blocked shots.
They also foul a lot, ranking 26th in opponents’ free throw attempts per game. This is the second worst defensive team in the Association and without their best defender they are probably the worst.
Offensively they rank 11th at 116.0 points per game, but without Haliburton and Turner they are missing 39 points and 12 assists. However, Buddy Hield is hitting 42% of this 3’s and Jordan Nwora and T.J. McConnell are at 43%. They have some guys coming off the bench that can get hot from outside. Hield and Mathurin are both averaging 18 points per game in three games against the Cavs. Hield is 13-for-21 (63%) on 3’s against Cleveland.
The one area where they excel is fast break points per game, where they lead the NBA with 18. I expect them to run at every opportunity tonight as they will probably have a small lineup on the floor.
I think their only chance to steal a win is for Hield, Mathurin, Nwora, and McConnell to get hot from deep and hit 50% of their 3’s. In their only win against the Cavs this year they were 19-for-31. Haliburton was 6-for-8 but fortunately he is out. The Cavs had 17 offensive rebounds in that game to 4 for the Pacers, but the Pacers simply outshot the Cavs and won 136-125. Haliburton and Turner had a combined line of 43/12/12.
Okoro is out for the Cavs and Windler is done for the year. CBSports lists him as having a foot injury and out until at least July 1, which is three months from now. We may have seen the last of him in a Cavs uniform. Hey, he played 10 minutes this year.
Jarrett Allen is listed as a game time decision.
To make matters worse, their best player, Tyrese Haliburton, is out. Haliburton averages 21 points and 10 assists. Center Myles Turner is questionable - he averages 18 points and 7.5 rebounds. If Turner is out the Pacers will be without their two leading scorers, their leading rebounder, their leader in assists, and their top shot blocker.
The Pacers don’t have a backup center; they’ve been starting PF Jalen Smith (6'9", 215) with Turner out. In their last game they started Smith at center, 6’8” Jordan Nwora at PF, and three guards - Nesmith at 6’5”, Nembhard at 6’3”, and Mathurin at 6’5”.
The Pacers have been having defensive problems with the 6’11”, 250 pound Turner out. In the last week they gave up 149 points to Milwaukee, 143 to Atlanta, and 127 to Dallas.
Even with Turner they’re bad defensively. On the season they are second to last in points allowed per game, 25th in points in the paint allowed, and 25th in opponents’ 3-point percentage. And even when they force a miss they’re not out of the woods as they are last in defensive rebounding percentage. Turner is by far their best rebounder so if he is out they are worse than the worst in both shot blocking and rebounding missed shots. Turner has 40% of their blocked shots.
They also foul a lot, ranking 26th in opponents’ free throw attempts per game. This is the second worst defensive team in the Association and without their best defender they are probably the worst.
Offensively they rank 11th at 116.0 points per game, but without Haliburton and Turner they are missing 39 points and 12 assists. However, Buddy Hield is hitting 42% of this 3’s and Jordan Nwora and T.J. McConnell are at 43%. They have some guys coming off the bench that can get hot from outside. Hield and Mathurin are both averaging 18 points per game in three games against the Cavs. Hield is 13-for-21 (63%) on 3’s against Cleveland.
The one area where they excel is fast break points per game, where they lead the NBA with 18. I expect them to run at every opportunity tonight as they will probably have a small lineup on the floor.
I think their only chance to steal a win is for Hield, Mathurin, Nwora, and McConnell to get hot from deep and hit 50% of their 3’s. In their only win against the Cavs this year they were 19-for-31. Haliburton was 6-for-8 but fortunately he is out. The Cavs had 17 offensive rebounds in that game to 4 for the Pacers, but the Pacers simply outshot the Cavs and won 136-125. Haliburton and Turner had a combined line of 43/12/12.
Okoro is out for the Cavs and Windler is done for the year. CBSports lists him as having a foot injury and out until at least July 1, which is three months from now. We may have seen the last of him in a Cavs uniform. Hey, he played 10 minutes this year.
Jarrett Allen is listed as a game time decision.
